Watch online: MSG-3 launch (UK)

Join us for the launch of MSG-3 today. Dedicated to monitoring the weather from geostationary orbit, MSG-3 will be launched on an Ariane 5 from French Guiana. The 29-minute window opens at 23:36 CEST. Live transmission from Eumetsat in Germany starts at 21:30 CEST.

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The launch of the third Meteosat Second Generation, MSG-3, satellite ensures the continuity of meteorological observations to improve weather forecasts from geostationary orbit 36 000 km above Earth. MSG-3 joins Meteosat-8, which has greatly exceeded its expected life, and Meteosat-9.

The MSG series builds on the legacy of the operational meteorological satellites that started with Meteosat-1 in 1977.

ESA has developed the series of weather satellites in close cooperation with Eumetsat, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites.

About ten days after launch, Eumetsat will take over routine operations.